Surcharge system drives people to the poor house

I applaud the New Jersey Supreme Court report that characterized municipal court practices as social injustice due to oppressive motor vehicle violation fines and penalties. It finally draws attention to a system that increasingly relies on traffic offenders to finance the expenses of local municipalities. The unaffordable and burdensome fines imposed on defendants and offenders — who are most often poor, minorities — regularly lead to driver license suspension and sometimes jail when they cannot pay.

I have long advocated for various reforms that would help mitigate the consequences of driver license suspension on the poor. Recently, I introduced legislation that would eliminate the unfairly oppressive Motor Vehicle surcharge system.

Motor vehicle surcharges are fees required by the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) to penalize drivers for infractions or for exceeding six points. Points can accumulate quickly: a speeding ticket ranges from 2-5 points; improper passing is 4 points; even an out-of-state moving violation adds 2 points to a driving record. MVC also imposes surcharges, ranging from $100 to $1,500 for certain offenses. The surcharges, levied each year for three years, accumulate interest and are added to any court-imposed fines and penalties.

Constituents calling my office face tens of thousands of dollars in surcharge debt. In some cases, they could have bought a car or made a down payment on a home for the amount they owe. Drivers that fail to pay their surcharges within a specified time face suspension. People suffering financial hardship can experience multiple suspensions during the course of their payment period and are then punished with repeated restoration fees.

A driver whose license is suspended and has no alternative transportation to work is placed in a no win situation: lose the job or break the law to continue earning a paycheck. Without a job, the driver has no income to pay down the debt or provide for even basic needs. If caught behind the wheel, the driver faces additional infractions, longer suspensions, and more fines and surcharges that become financially unmanageable.

In New Jersey, driving is more than a privilege; it’s a necessity. Few stores or employers are within walking distance or convenient to public transportation. A valid driver license is needed to apply for most good-paying jobs, even those that do not entail driving. It’s required for labor apprenticeships that could be a pathway to the middle class for low-income residents. It’s required just to apply for work, even when those jobs are located on construction sites within walking distance for local residents. Our state has lagged behind the nation in employment gains and economic growth, in part because our policies create too many hurdles to employment. The surcharge system along with a biased and broken criminal justice system has significantly contributed to income inequality in New Jersey.

I served on the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Affordability and Fairness Task Force, a panel established in 2003 after I condemned the way our motor vehicle laws and surcharges punish the poor. The Task Force found that a disproportionate number of suspended drivers reside in urban and low-income areas. This should come as no surprise, given New Jersey’s history of bias in stopping and ticketing drivers because of their skin color. Although the State Police has taken steps to end racial profiling, a lack of fair and impartial enforcement is a continuing problem among some local police. Studies have shown that black and Latino drivers are ticketed more frequently. Therefore, fines, court costs, surcharges, suspensions, higher auto insurance premiums, jail time, joblessness and other consequences of motor vehicle tickets fall more heavily on poor minorities.

The surcharge system was created 35 years ago during the “tough on crime” wave of the 1980s that did more to harm than help poor minorities. Some reforms have eased the devastating effects of those policies; however, the surcharge system in New Jersey remains in place. Surcharges, at one time, helped fund auto insurance for at-risk drivers. Today, they repay bonds that finance special needs housing projects across the state — a purpose totally unrelated to driving. Once again, the state is balancing the budget on the backs of the poor.

New Jersey is among only four states in the nation with a surcharge system, which puts our residents at a financial disadvantage. The surcharge system does not act as a deterrent to bad driving, but rather perpetuates poverty and is a source of steady revenue for the state. Revoking driving privileges, essential to employment, for not paying additionally imposed penalties is punitive, counterproductive, and discriminatory.

My Senate bill S-1508 calls for the gradual elimination of the surcharge program and requires that no new bonds be issued against surcharge revenues. We must also ease the burden of driver license suspensions on the poor by allowing for restricted use driver licenses in New Jersey, a policy I have fought for since 2002. My bill, S-1080, would enable suspended drivers to drive to work, school, medical appointments, and child care. It would enable more people to be employable, maintain their jobs, pay down their debt, and maybe even get ahead. More than 38 states offer restricted use driver licenses for suspended drivers.

There is no fairness in a system that flagrantly cuts off individuals from the labor force and traps them in poverty. It’s long past time for New Jersey to provide the opportunity for the poor to get richer and put them on the road to economic and social justice.